Walter Brasch: It is important that the people push a weak-willed Congress, inflated by Big Energy political contributions, to force the natural gas industry to be accountable for all laws that protect the public health and environment.

David Love: Why are black and Latino boys in urban neighborhoods more likely to attend the penitentiary than the university? Why is it so easy for a child to acquire a gun, but so difficult for him or her to get a quality education, or a balanced and nourishing meal?

Rev. Dr. Jim Nelson: Any God who would do something as gratuitously tragic as the recent earthquake in Japan, or last year’s in Haiti is no God to believe in, or, if to believe in, then not to worship. Why do the innocent suffer – because they do. There is no reason. Read Job.

Elizabeth Edwards passed away yesterday. To honor her we’ve republished a piece written by Linda Milazzo in 2007 entitled, “I Love Elizabeth Edwards”. Milazzo does a good job of expressing what many feel.

Carl Bloice: The purpose in this case is to underscore the contention that the cruel blockade of Gaza is to prevent the smuggling of arms and weapons-making material into the enclave. It is not and never has been. The aim of the blockade is to make life miserable for the 1.4 million Palestinians there in the hope of undermining the Hamas government, which was duly elected four years ago. Gaza is being held for ransom. That’s collective punishment and it’s against international law.

K. Danielle Edwards: I have coworkers and even a relative who have likely lost their homes. Most Tennesseans, as this article outlines, do not have flood insurance. As a result, most of us will be denied by our insurance companies for not having coverage we were either prohibited from purchasing (if one does not live in an official flood plain) or were told we did not need.

Sharon Kyle: Televangelist Pat Robertson has claimed that Haitians made a pact with the devil and, as a result, have been cursed by God. Is Haiti cursed? If it is not, who or what is driving the policies that effectively keep Haiti oppressed?

The Body Politic

Dave Zirin: She is our Jordan. She is our Jim Brown. She is our Babe Ruth, calling his shots. She is no longer content to dodge bullets, but understands how to stop them. Serena is that rare athlete who has not only mastered her sport. She’s harnessed it.